Industrial and institutional cleaning involves various cleaning activities including washing of dishware such as plates, cups, and utensils and the like in a continuous process at such institutions and industries like restaurants, hotels, long-term care facilities, schools and military as well as cleaning at car washes and the like and other various cleaning activities requiring the utilization of consumable cleaning products. The various cleaning processes are repeated several times each day in order to facilitate serving the large volume of individuals or customers at these facilities. Dedicated washing systems utilize associated detergents, and related products such as rinse additives, flatware presoaks, pot-pan presoaks and the like in combination with controlled dispensing systems specifically designed to handle the large bulk of volume of detergents. One of the primary characteristics of the cleaning industry is that the related products are consumable requiring the constant furnishing of replacement products. It is estimated that approximately fifty million units of molded solid detergents and extruded film wrapped detergents are consumed annually. A drawback to this industry is the production of waste materials which are associated with the packaging and delivery of the respective detergents and related products from the manufacturer to the consumer. In particular, the presence of such waste generated from such products is estimated to be approximately ten thousand tons a year.
The accumulation of waste is particularly a problem when at sea because of the limited availability of resources for discharging the waste products. In order to alleviate the stress put onto the marine world and particularly on ships, the U.S Navy has initiated a PRIME program which focuses on Plastics Removal in the Marine Environment to reduce the amount of plastic and solid waste brought on board Navy vessels. Accordingly, there is attention placed on the desirability of reducing waste when possible and in particular with the Navy.
The methods of manufacturing and dispensing of detergents for industrial and institutional utilization has evolved significantly over the last number of years. A brief description of these detergent products and their packaging is provided. All described methods are of methods of controlled dispensing, i.e. not pouring.
Liquids
Liquid detergents are normally dispensed through the use of peristaltic pumping systems. The concepts are well understood. Pumps normally operate off of a concentration indication signal (conductivity, pH, etc.), or on a timed basis (run pump for x seconds, every cleaning cycle). Liquid product forms are ubiquitous in the industry. They are easy to formulate, with minimal equipment costs. Depending on the type of product, the formula may contain from 50-99% water. Some examples of liquid product dispensing equipment are provided by Knight Equipment—Lake Forest, Calif.; Beta Technology—Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Viking Injector-Nesquehoning, Pa. Being a liquid, these detergents are packaged in containers which are disposed of after the liquid is consumed.
Powders
Powdered detergents are normally dispensed by producing and packaging the detergent into a plastic bottle. The shape and size of the jar may be considered to be approximately the size of a 1 gallon mayonnaise jar. Over the mouth of the jar, a cap is attached which contains a screen. This jar and screen combination is placed inverted into a dispenser device which has a water spray mechanism. When flow of water is initiated, the spray wets the screen, and dissolves the powder through the screen. The solution of water and detergent then flows typically by gravity to the use point. The flow of water can be from a controller which is monitoring some parameter (conductivity, pH, etc), or on a time basis. Normally, a signal is provided to a water valve which opens, and allows water to flow to the dispenser bowl, through the spray tip, and onto the screen. Powdered detergents dispensed in this manner are at times referred to “encapsulated”. Powdered products can also be dispensed by pouring an amount of powder into a dispenser bowl that has a lid to create a closed chamber. The poured powder rests upon a screen, which remains in the dispenser bowl that allows for the spray of water to dissolve the powder. An example of a dispenser bowl of this type is provided by Beta Technology. Like liquids, the packaging jar is disposed of once the powder is consumed.
Solids
In some arenas, due to the issues that may arise with powders, solid detergents and related products have been established. Typically, solid detergents are sometimes referred to as “blocks” in an attempt to differentiate between a powder. Prior art disclosures of solid blocks and associated dispensers are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,426,362; 4,569,780; 4,826,661 and Re. 32, 818 all assigned to EcoLab of St. Paul, Minn. These solids are produced either through hydration or a melting process. In hydration slurry is produced of hydratable materials in water. The slurry is poured into a bottle. The contents are allowed to hydrate, which reduces the free water content keeping the slurry fluid. As the free water is bound via hydration, the slurry solidifies. In the melting process, a slurry is produced of materials, some of which are above their melting point at the processing temperature. The slurry is poured into a bottle. The slurry cools. The liquid materials above their melting point solidify as the temperature falls. The slurry eventually solidifies. As shown in the patents referenced above, the solids are cast directly into a sturdy solid plastic container which acts as a mold, a shipping and storage container, and ultimately a dispenser housing which is adapted to affix with a related dispenser as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,661.
As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,661, dispensing equipment for solid detergents is similar to encapsulated powder products. There is no screen attached to the jar, however, since the product should not pour out of the jar unlike a powdered detergent. The solidified solid in a jar is inverted, and placed into a dispenser bowl. A spray of water contacts the face of the solid, through the opening in the mouth of the jar. The detergent solution exits, and travels by gravity to the use point. Whereas in an encapsulated product, the powder is always in contact with the screen of the cap, and is therefore is always in the same vertical position; in a solid, the face of the detergent is eroded away during use. As a result, the “face” of the solid moves vertically away from the spray jet, as the product is consumed. When the solid is fully consumed, the outer dispenser housing is discarded.
Revised Solids
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,831,054 and 6,583,903 both assigned to Ecolab, disclose an alternative embodiment of a detergent solid. These patents disclose that a dimensionally stable solid block for ware washing may be formed via extruded pellet, or extruded block. In forming the solid cleaning block, ingredients are mixed and discharged from a mixing system through a die or other shaping means. The profiled extrudate then can be divided into varying sizes. The extruded solid may be cast directly or extruded directly into a container or other packaging system without structurally damaging the material. The preferred packaging used to contain the compositions is manufactured from a flexible, easy opening film material. Based on the examples provided in the specification of the patents, it appears that that the packaging material is necessary because the solid is only fractionally hydrated as evidenced by the low levels of water disclosed in the examples. The packaging assists in preventing the absorption of moisture from the atmosphere during shipping and handling prior to being positioned in a dispenser. Furthermore, the packaging provides a surface for the labeling of the product.
This solid is disclosed as being dispensed by those dispensers previously identified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,661 previously mentioned. Furthermore, a detergent dispenser as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,668 also assigned to Ecolab discloses another dispenser suitable for the utilization of the extruded blocks as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,831,054 and 6,583,903. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,668, the solid block detergent which is a cast solid block is revealed by removing associated packaging.
Additionally, the dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,668 utilizes a deep reservoir for receiving the solid detergents. This patent discloses that two thin solid blocks may be stacked upon one another inside the cavity to retain a relatively constant supply of detergent within the dispenser. The solid block has a dimension of approximately 2.13 by 4.00 by 6.36 inches. Additionally, this patent discloses that in the preferred embodiment, the preferred shape of the solid detergent is a pellet in view of the increase surface area of the pellets in comparison to a solid block detergent. While the solid pellets are easy to handle, larger solids as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,426,362; 4,569,780 and 4,826,661 are larger and heavier and placement within the dispenser is difficult due to their weight and the lifting required positioning the detergent within the reservoir.
Additional problems arise from utilizing such solid detergents which are housed in containers due to the expanding gap from the solid detergent product and the spraying dispenser head which arises as the detergent product is consumed. For instance, rinse additives are utilized for dishwashing in order to facilitate effective sheeting of residual water and quick drying. Liquid rinse additives are normally injected into the final rinse line of a dishwasher. The injection rate is coordinated in order to inject during the entire rinse cycle. A typical rinse cycle can have a duration of 2 seconds up to 30 seconds, depending upon the type of washing equipment. A variable speed pump of some type is normally used to perform the injection. Whereas the dishwashing detergents can be quickly added in order to maintain a concentration based upon a signal from a controller, rinse additives are added much more slowly, and at very low levels into the rinse water. A typical target concentration of rinse additive actives into a rinse line is 30-50 ppm. By way of comparison, a typical dishwashing detergent will be used at a concentration of 500-2000 ppm.
Currently, solid rinse additives are typically packaged into capsules of a similar shape to the detergents. The solid rinse additives are placed into one of the aforementioned dispenser systems. A spray of water impacts the face of the solid, dissolving a portion. This solution created then travels by gravity to a small container or reservoir. The flow of water to the solid rinse aid is normally stopped when the volume in this reservoir is at some set point level. Typically a float switch will interrupt the flow of water to the solid block to keep from overfilling the reservoir.
This reservoir of rinse additive solution is then plumbed to an appropriate pump means that will draw a portion of the solution from the reservoir, and inject the solution into the final rinse water. When the level of the reservoir becomes depleted due to being consumed for the rinse process, the float switch will then allow for more water spray against the solid rinse product to occur, thus refilling the reservoir for later use.
An inherent difficulty in dispensing of solid products that are retained within a jar or capsule is that as the product is eroded by the spray of solvent, the face of the product moves away from the spray tip. As this distance increases, the impingement force of the water or solvent against the face of the block decreases, and less detergent material is dissolved per unit volume of water. The effect of this is that what has traditionally been seen in the industry is that the concentration of detergent is high in the spray solution exiting a dispenser bowl when the jar is newly installed. But, as the jar is consumed, the concentration of the spray solution decreases significantly.
For products that are controlled by some type of measurement setpoint, as may be the case with a dishwashing detergent, this is overcome by the controller allowing for a longer period of spray time against a solid block. The concentration in the wash tank of the dishwasher is the controlled variable, not the concentration of the product as it exits the dispenser bowl.
For items such as rinse additives, manual pot and pan detergents, presoaks and sanitizers, there typically is no means to measure and control the concentration. If the solution exiting the dispenser bowl is not consistent, the final concentration at the use point will not be consistent. This can created numerous issues such as over or underuse of products, poor results, or possibly food safety issues which could harm the patrons of a facility eating their meals on wares which are supposed to be free of pathogenic bacteria.
A prime example is the use of solid rinse additives. If the concentration of actives in the reservoir varies as a result of the changing distance of the solid block from the spray tip, when the rinse pump injects the solution from the reservoir, the final concentration of actives in the rinse water will vary as well. This can lead to the previously mentioned issues, since this volume of water is the last amount that contacts wares and utensils
While each of these prior detergents and other ware washing products are suitable for their intended purpose they all result in a waste product being thrown away and in most cases difficulties in applying the product due to the offset which arises from the dissolving of the respective product. From the containers which the solid detergents were molded and packaged in to the plastic wrappings which encase extruded detergents, trash results. Consequently, due to the large volume of ware washing cycles incurred by these industrial institutions, the associated waste product from these detergent supplies is environmentally detrimental.
Accordingly in order to alleviate the environmental stress that the waste from the solid detergents produces, there is a need for a solid detergent which is 100% consumable in a dispenser for industrial cleaning.
Also, there is a need to facilitate the easy placement of a solid detergent which is 100% consumable in a dispenser for industrial cleaning.
Furthermore, there is a need to provide for the placement of information on a solid detergent in a manner which still facilitates the 100% consumption of the solid detergent while still providing information to a consumer which is necessary for the proper handling and utilization of the product.
These objectives are accomplished in some manner by the preferred embodiment disclosed herein.